Palm Terrace: A Mardi Gras Dream Home

A Hidden Gem

If you’ve never heard of Palm Terrace, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a hidden gem of a street that’s one block long, with ten Mediterranean style bungalows featuring red tile roofs and stucco walls. Semi-private but smack in the middle of all the Uptown Mardi Gras revelry, it’s right off of St. Charles Avenue, nestled between Milan and Marengo Streets, and backs up to The Chloe. 

Location and Style, Right Off the Avenue

Secretly, I’d had my eye on Palm Terrace for years and always wanted to own one of those bungalows. I loved the style, the location, and I’m a big Mardi Gras fan. So being that close to the action was a huge draw. Back in 2012, I put out some feelers. Lo and behold, some friends who lived on Palm Terrace said the owner of #10 might be ready to sell. Turns out the #10 owner had bought the property as an investment, when he’d owned Cannon’s (a restaurant around the corner that as New Orleanians like to say, “ain’t dere no more”). I did some sleuthing – a superpower that I’ve put to good use for my clients – and found that he lived on Bellaire Drive, the street I’d grown up on.

Making It Happen

So what did I do? That day, I went to his house on Bellaire Drive, knocked on the door, and said I wanted to buy #10 Palm Terrace. He was open to the idea and agreed to show me the house. Turns out it wasn’t in great shape – there was water damage from a roof problem, cracks in the stucco, and the oak floors were ruined by a tenant’s dogs. He was detailing all that he was going to do to the property before putting it on the market, when I stopped him mid-sentence and said, “If you don’t do anything to improve it, would you sell it for 20K less?”

He said, “Yes. And I’ll still fix the roof.”

New Orleans being the small world that it is, we soon discovered that my cousin had been his long-time golf pro. (In this city, there’s always less than six degrees of separation.)

Life on Palm Terrace

With various improvements and renovations over the years, the Palm Terrace house was a joy to live in and a perfect spot for Mardi Gras parties of all kinds. And even though it’s small, I never tired of filling it with friends and family who’d sit on the balcony, spill out into the street, and wander down to the corner to watch the parades go by.